Ladies in White

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Cuban
human rights defender Laura Pollán, who died Friday from
respiratory complications at a Havana hospital, fought a mighty battle against
the Cuban government for almost a decade. Pollán, 63, leaves behind her husband,
the award-winning independent journalist Héctor Maseda Gutiérrez, and a daughter.
She also leaves a legacy of determination, courage, and creativity. Her powerful
belief in justice was ultimately rewarded when dozens of wrongly imprisoned dissidents
and journalists, including her husband, were freed from prison over the last
two years, in large part due to her efforts.

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In
mid-2006, CPJ's Journalist
Assistance
program began sending regular remittances to the families of independent Cuban journalists
in prison. By CPJ's count, of the 29 journalists jailed during a massive crackdown in 2003, 24 were still in prison at the time--making
Cuba the world's second-worst jailer of journalists in the world. The
remittances, sent monthly, helped families cover travel expenses to the prisons--sometimes
two days away on shabby buses--and basic maintenance for the jailed editors and
reporters--ranging from food staples like rice and beans, to clothes, bowls and
spoons, to aspirin and specialized medications, all unavailable behind bars. At
the time, I was the Research Associate for the Americas program, and my
job was to contact families and catalog urgency and needs.